As you may have read previously, I brewed an India Pale Ale as batch #5 for my company’s golf outing. I started with the Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA recipe and made a few alterations. The brewing and secondary dry hopping was rather successful, so this post examines the most important aspect of homebrewing: the taste.

Lincoln Abbey Lincoln IPA

Appearance

The beer pours an amber color with a lofty and frothy off-white colored that leaves specks of lacing on the glass on the way down. It’s not quite like the lacing of Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA, but what is? It has a darker appearance than the 60 Minute IPA does as well, most likely due to the Crystal malt used.

Aroma

The aroma consists of fresh hops, orange, tangerine, grapefruit, passion fruit, lemon, and pepper. Basically, it has all of the citrus fruits that I like to smell with a light spiciness and a hint of sweetness that lingers in the background.

Taste

The taste is smooth with a caramel and toasted toffee flavor before the bitter hops hit the tongue. There are citrus flavors including tangerine, orange, grapefruit, and lemon that are prominent with a hint of passion fruit. On the finish, pepper and pine attack the back of the tongue. While not a hop bomb, this beer provides a very hop-forward experience with a balanced approach.

Mouthfeel/Drinkability

The beer was pretty smooth drinking with a nice caramel backbone to it, so having several of these should not be a problem. There is some bitterness aspect to it, as expected with any IPA, so people not accustomed to drinking IPAs may have difficulty finishing it. Overall, for an IPA it was easy drinking but delivered a nice hop punch.

Value

The ingredients required to make this beer cost approximately $60 and it yielded 41 12-ounce bottles of beer. Overall, I think that is a very good value for such a great tasting beer.

Overall

I was absolutely impressed with my IPA offering and I thought it was quite hoppy but had a nice sweet backbone that many people would enjoy. It wasn’t a world beater but I could see ordering this beer several times if I saw it on tap someplace. I look to brew this again in the future.

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Written by Jeff Kupko

Jeff is a traffic engineer that loves his beer, and especially loves trying new beer. As a student at the University of Pittsburgh, Yuengling was a staple and the beginnings of liking something better than fizzy yellow water. This has evolved into an entire hobby, with Jeff keeping a blog of all of the beers he tries. Vacations most certainly involve at least one brewery or bottle shop visit to gather a region’s coveted fruits. Now, Jeff has ventured into homebrewing, and there is probably no saving him from being engulfed entirely by beer. While Imperial Stouts and IPAs rank highest in Jeff’s eyes, sours are sneaking up on those styles, and Jeff loves to try all different styles. Find Jeff Kupko on Google Plus